News & Notes

Tokai University Breeding Bluefin Tuna Onshore

Oct 12 (Tue ), 2010

Tokai University Publicizes Research Success in Breeding Bluefin Tuna Onshore

JFS/Tokai University Publicizes Research Success in Breeding Bluefin Tuna Onshore

Tokai University opened its doors to the public on July 7, 2010, to introduce its onshore bluefin tuna breeding research farm, which utilizes seawater pumped from underground, and displayed tunas raised in the facility.

Nobuhiko Akiyama, a professor in the Tokai University School of Marine Science and Technology, has jointly conducted this research since fiscal 2006 in cooperation with a private company and the university's Department of Fisheries. Bluefin tuna fry of about 20 centimeters in length are raised each year on the university's Shimizu Campus using seawater pumped from underground in four special tanks of about one meter in depth and five meters in diameter, for a period of about four months beginning each August.

The seawater drawn up from the two underground wells on campus has a constant temperature year round. In addition, its characteristic quality is that aerobic bacteria have not been detected in the water. Compared to offshore fish farms, onshore tanks using underground seawater reduce the cost of water temperature management, and reduce the risk of pollution from disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and heavy metals such as mercury and cadmium.

Meanwhile, issues caused by the onshore tanks do exist. For example, the survival rate is not necessarily that high. Professor Akiyama states, "I hope to build know-how, working toward the realization of higher added-value and stable production, with the ultimate goal of complete onshore breeding. My aim is to establish a breeding system that is feasible for onshore tanks."